The Los Angeles Lakers (2-4) control most of the match – but in the end the San Antonio Spurs (3-2) turn up the heat and win 110:106 (BOXSCORE). LeBron James reaches two milestones at the same time and collects Dirk Nowitzki.
Although Rajon Rondo was available again after his three-game suspension, Lakers coach Luke Walton continued to trust Lonzo Ball in the Starting Five, who had performed well in past games. At first the Point Guard remained pale.
His colleagues Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James and Lance Stephenson ensured a successful start for the Lakers. Kuzma sank two three in a row for the start, LBJ sent a butter-soft fade-away jumper to the early 8:2 lead.
Although the Spurs could not be shaken off, after 10 points from Stephenson in the first quarter – including a threesome with the Buzzer – the guests still had a 36:29 lead after 12 minutes. In the second run L.A. extended the lead up to 14 points in the meantime – but by the half-time break the Spurs had fought their way back to 54:60.
The third quarter began with a milestone for LeBron. The King overtook O’Neal in the All-Time-Made-Field-Goals ranking with a Shaquille Shaquille layout, placing the 33-year-old in 6th place (a total of 11,339 successful field goals). A little later he finally grabbed the next legend on another all-time list. With a Pull-Up Jumper he passed Dirk Nowitzki (31.187 points) on the All-Time-Scoring-List also on place 6 (31.202 points).
Meanwhile, however, the Spurs took advantage of their momentum from the first half and continued their race to catch up. Bryn Forbes in particular was hot, with 9 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter he led the spurs to two points. DeMar DeRozan equalized shortly afterwards.
Afterwards it was Pau Gasol who pulled the Spurs fans from their seats in the AT&T Center. With two Spanish putback dunks, San Antonio seemed to take control. The Spurs even took the lead for the first time at the beginning of the final section – but L.A. remained within striking distance until the end.
Even when the Spurs dropped a good three minutes before the siren with 8 points, the party was still far from decided. LeBron James defended himself with all means against the threatening defeat, with two strong drives he shortened again to four points, a trio of Josh Hart put on 105:106 from Lakers point of view.
But on the other hand, DeRozan was simply outstanding. Despite his hand in his face, he sank a jumper from the free-throw line. After a failed move, James put a desperate threesome on the ring – but Hart grabbed the offensive rebound and kept the Lakers’ hopes alive.
However, he had to miss the second free-throw and the Lakers grabbed the offensive rebound – that prevented Gasol. The Spaniard (12 points, 11 rebounds) finished his strong evening with two free throws and secured the victory for the Spurs.
DeRozan finished on 30 points (14/23 FG), 12 rebounds and 8 assists, LaMarcus Aldridge (15) as well as Rudy Gay and Bryn Forbes performed well (15 each). James was topscorer of the game with 35 points (13/21 FG, 11 rebounds), Kyle Kuzma contributed 15 points.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers 110:106 (BOXSCORE)
DeMar DeRozan. The newcomer from Toronto dominated the Lakers defense – even though he didn’t take a single threesome! The guests simply couldn’t stop DeRozan’s powerful drives, even his mid-range jumper with Hart’s hand on his face, who made the victory almost certain, was simply outstanding.
Lonzo Ball. Although the Point Guard got the confidence of coach Walton as a starter, he could not justify that. After all, two threes found their way through the cage, but otherwise there was not much to do with Ball. After 27 minutes he had to show 6 points (2/8 FG), 3 assists and 3 turnovers.
The two fundamentally different playing styles of the Lakers and Spurs became obvious from the beginning. While the Lakers were pushing the pace, San Antonio took a relatively long time in the half-field attacks. Aldridge and the other big men of the Spurs positioned themselves again and again by post-up, from which they either scored themselves or generated layups open for the other players after dangerous cuts. So and with the help of numerous strong drives, the home side exploited the lack of a rim protector in the Lakers’ ranks mercilessly – San Antonio scored 54 points in the zone, the Lakers only 38.
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